County Eyes Communication System
April 17, 2019 at 1:31 a.m.
County Eyes Communication System
By David [email protected]
Terry Burnworth, owner of Pyramid Consulting, gave a presentation to the Kosciusko County Commissioners Tuesday. The commissioners then approved an agreement with him for a total of $25,000.
Burnworth, who also is an architect, said he does radio consulting throughout the United States.
“We used to call it the public safety radio system years ago but the thing is, things are changing so rapidly, and I’m not saying we’re going to go to these devices (cellphones), but they’re changing so rapidly to integrate LTE systems into the public safety communications system,” Burnworth said.
He said he does his assessment for “those who are coming to end-of-life on their equipment. And some of your equipment is already end-of-life, other equipment is coming to end-of-life.”
There’s two parts to his assessment. The first part, which will cost the county $10,000, is an overall assessment of the dispatch center. It could include assessments of the basic electric to the equipment that needs to be procured over the next several years. The second part, costing $15,000, is “basically dealing with radio frequency issues,” he said.
“When narrowbanding occurred, it really affected VHF frequencies,” Burnworth said.
Burnworth said the assessment will take three months. The first part can start immediately. The county will receive a draft report in June, with the final report a month later.
County Commissioner Cary Groninger asked if the study would be for all county emergency services. Burnworth said it would.
A little later in the meeting, Area Planning Commission Director Dan Richard brought “no recommendation” to the commissioners from the Area Plan Commission on the proposed ordinance amendment regarding commercial solar energy system farms.
At its April 3 meeting, Richard said the Area Plan Commission held a public hearing on the proposed ordinance amendment, gathered input and tried to formulate a recommendation on it.
“They ended up forwarding to you for today no recommendation,” he said. ...”They would like another month so they can get further input, solicit a little more, get some input for what would be their May 1 meeting at 1 p.m. in (the old county courthouse) in order to try and get a recommendation to you one way or another.”
Pending what happens May 1, Richard said the commissioners could get a recommendation at their May 28 meeting. As of Tuesday, 21 days were left in the county’s moratorium on commercial solar energy system farms.
The commissioners decided to give the Area Plan Commission more time to review the proposed ordinance amendment.
In other business, the commissioners:
• Approved the Kosciusko County Highway Department’s annual operational report for local roads and streets as requested by Highway Superintendent Scott Tilden.
Commissioners also approved a contract from Cardno Inc., Walkerton, for Kosciusko County bridge No. 18 wetland mitigation.
The contract covers maintenance and reporting. The wetland is already built and “is part of the 0.84 acres we had to supply and build in order to take some wetlands when we did construction on CR 300N for bridge 18 over the Tippecanoe River. This would take care of that for three years,” Tilden said.
The contract is for 2019-21 and for $22,000.
Though he voted to approve the contract because the county had no choice, Commissioner Brad Jackson said, “I think it’s a huge waste of tax money.”
The last item approved by the commissioners for Tilden was a supplement agreement from USI Consultants, Indianapolis, for right of way acquisition for bridge 98 work. It increases the contract by $22,300. The acquisition wasn’t originally expected but will assist with locating and moving utilities.
• Approved the Comprehensive Emergency Management Agency Plan as presented by the county’s EMA director, Ed Rock.
“This is a comprehensive plan that basically talks about what is the structure, what are we going to do as a complete county in the event of a major disaster,” Rock said.
• Approved the reappointment of Bob Marcuccilli to the Lakeland Regional Sewer District Board.
• Heard a request from Mike Long, a resident of CR 800W, to consider an ordinance limiting thru-truck traffic on CR 800W, especially since the road will be paved thanks to a state Community Crossings grant.
Groninger said the commissioners will gather information before making any decision.
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Terry Burnworth, owner of Pyramid Consulting, gave a presentation to the Kosciusko County Commissioners Tuesday. The commissioners then approved an agreement with him for a total of $25,000.
Burnworth, who also is an architect, said he does radio consulting throughout the United States.
“We used to call it the public safety radio system years ago but the thing is, things are changing so rapidly, and I’m not saying we’re going to go to these devices (cellphones), but they’re changing so rapidly to integrate LTE systems into the public safety communications system,” Burnworth said.
He said he does his assessment for “those who are coming to end-of-life on their equipment. And some of your equipment is already end-of-life, other equipment is coming to end-of-life.”
There’s two parts to his assessment. The first part, which will cost the county $10,000, is an overall assessment of the dispatch center. It could include assessments of the basic electric to the equipment that needs to be procured over the next several years. The second part, costing $15,000, is “basically dealing with radio frequency issues,” he said.
“When narrowbanding occurred, it really affected VHF frequencies,” Burnworth said.
Burnworth said the assessment will take three months. The first part can start immediately. The county will receive a draft report in June, with the final report a month later.
County Commissioner Cary Groninger asked if the study would be for all county emergency services. Burnworth said it would.
A little later in the meeting, Area Planning Commission Director Dan Richard brought “no recommendation” to the commissioners from the Area Plan Commission on the proposed ordinance amendment regarding commercial solar energy system farms.
At its April 3 meeting, Richard said the Area Plan Commission held a public hearing on the proposed ordinance amendment, gathered input and tried to formulate a recommendation on it.
“They ended up forwarding to you for today no recommendation,” he said. ...”They would like another month so they can get further input, solicit a little more, get some input for what would be their May 1 meeting at 1 p.m. in (the old county courthouse) in order to try and get a recommendation to you one way or another.”
Pending what happens May 1, Richard said the commissioners could get a recommendation at their May 28 meeting. As of Tuesday, 21 days were left in the county’s moratorium on commercial solar energy system farms.
The commissioners decided to give the Area Plan Commission more time to review the proposed ordinance amendment.
In other business, the commissioners:
• Approved the Kosciusko County Highway Department’s annual operational report for local roads and streets as requested by Highway Superintendent Scott Tilden.
Commissioners also approved a contract from Cardno Inc., Walkerton, for Kosciusko County bridge No. 18 wetland mitigation.
The contract covers maintenance and reporting. The wetland is already built and “is part of the 0.84 acres we had to supply and build in order to take some wetlands when we did construction on CR 300N for bridge 18 over the Tippecanoe River. This would take care of that for three years,” Tilden said.
The contract is for 2019-21 and for $22,000.
Though he voted to approve the contract because the county had no choice, Commissioner Brad Jackson said, “I think it’s a huge waste of tax money.”
The last item approved by the commissioners for Tilden was a supplement agreement from USI Consultants, Indianapolis, for right of way acquisition for bridge 98 work. It increases the contract by $22,300. The acquisition wasn’t originally expected but will assist with locating and moving utilities.
• Approved the Comprehensive Emergency Management Agency Plan as presented by the county’s EMA director, Ed Rock.
“This is a comprehensive plan that basically talks about what is the structure, what are we going to do as a complete county in the event of a major disaster,” Rock said.
• Approved the reappointment of Bob Marcuccilli to the Lakeland Regional Sewer District Board.
• Heard a request from Mike Long, a resident of CR 800W, to consider an ordinance limiting thru-truck traffic on CR 800W, especially since the road will be paved thanks to a state Community Crossings grant.
Groninger said the commissioners will gather information before making any decision.
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